Safety attachment for electric conductors



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B PURGANG.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTCRS. No. 481,665.v Patented Aug. 30, 1892.

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(No Model.)

R. FURGANG. SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR ELE-GTRIUCONDUGTORS. 'Nok-481,665.

Patented Aug. 30, 1892.`

'Illu Illllllll UNITED STA-TES PATENT Prion.

RUDOLPH FURGANG, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming pari', 0f Letters Patent N0. 481,665, dated August 30, 1892.

Application filed January 18, 1892. Serial No. 418,398. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH FURGANG, of Boston, in the county ot' Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Electric Conducting-Wires, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which* Figure l is a top plan view of my improved safety attachment, a part of the-supportingarch being represented as broken away; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 8, a Vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 4, a vertical transverse section taken on line a .rin Fig. l; Fig. 5, an end elevation looking from the left in Fig. l, and Fig. 6 a side elevation showing the gates open.

Like letters and numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates especially to a device applicable for use on the overhead conducting-wires of electric street-railway systems, whereby when such wire is accidentally broken and falls to the ground said broken section may be disconnected automatically from the remainder of the line-wire; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object being to produce a simpler, cheaper, and more effective device of this character than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation.

ln the drawings, A represents a rectangular frame ot conductive material, the side walls b of which are connected at their ends by cross-bars d, to which metallic plates ff, arranged horizontally, are secured. A space g is left between the inner ends of the plates ffz. An arch h connects the side walls b between said plates. Said arch may be constructed of insulating material or insulated in any suitable manner lfrom the side walls b,

ordinary supporting-wire of the trolley-wire, wherebyT the device is sustained. Each plate ffzis provided with atrack or wayj, extending centrally from the end bars d t0 the space g. A block 7o, grooved to receive the tongue of said ways, is fitted to slide therein. To said blocks the electric conducting-wire m of each section of the line-wire between the adjacent supporting-wires is secured.

At opposite sides of each plate ffz hori- Zontally-arranged cylinders p are secured by straps q, sa id cylinders projecting beyond the side walls b. Centrally from each way j a similar cylinder o' is mounted and secured in said straps. In each cylinder p r a piston t is mounted, the rods v o2 w of which project through the outer end of said cylinders. Coiled springs y are disposed within the cylinders around said rods and act expansively to force said piston. These piston-rods are insulated by winding or in any othersuitable manner from their cylinders. The rods n v2 are connected by an angle-rod l5, which slides in slots 16 in the end bars d of the frame. The piston-rod w is hook-shaped (see Fig. 3) and slides in a slot 17. The outer ends ot' said rods to are screw-threaded, and a shoe C, iitted to slide in cach of the ways j, is turned onto said threaded end. The toes of said shoes project into grooves 19 in the blocks 7e. The tension of the wires m on the blocks 7c force said shoes outward against the end Walls d of the frame, compressing the springs y in the outer ends of the cylinders, as shown in the left-hand portion of Fig. 3. Studs 2O and 20 project laterally from each end of the end walls and are insulated from the frame. Said studs may be connected by a supplemental wire with the ground. Each piston-rod o o2 has its outer end turned downward and provided with a boss 2l, adapted to engage in a suitable indentation in the studs 20', when the tension of. the trolley-wire against the shoe C is released, as hereinafter described. Adjacent each stud 20' a hinged gate 25 is interposed in the side wall. Said gate is provided with a boss 26, adapted to engage in a socket in the adjacent stud 20 when the gate is thrown open, as shown in Fig. 6. Each plate ff2 is provided with ahorizontal swinging block 27, hinged to said plates, said block opening through the side Wall and permitting IOO the wire blocks 7c to be removed from the ways j. In each side wall b at the space g a hinged gate 28 is interposed, whereby the current passing through said side Walls may be broken when said gates are open.

In the use of my improvement the frame A is mounted by the eye t' at each cross or supporting wire of the system. Each section of conducting-Wire m between two adjacent supporting or cross wires has its ends secured, respectively, to blocks k of adjacent frames. The strain of the wire m on said blocks forces 'the shoes C outward into engagement with the cross-bars d. The piston-rods fu v2 w are drawn outward by the shoe and the springs y compressed, as shown in the portion at the left in Figs. 1 and 3. The current passes over the said wire through the plate f, through the side walls of the frame A, through the plate 2o f2 and block 7o, out the other end of the attachment, and on 'over the line. Should a wire break, releasing the tension on the block k, the springs y in the cylinders immediately force the piston inward, driving the shoe C against said block, which passes out ot' the inner end of the ways j and falls throughthe opening g to the ground, disconnecting said wire entirely from the attachment, the parts assuming the position shown at the right of Figs. 1 and 3. Bosses 21 on the piston-rods 'u o2 are driven into engagementwith the stud 2O on the end bars d of the frame. The current from the ordinary feed-Wires, which would naturally heat the safety attachment, passes over the Wire connecting said studs with the ground.

In repairing the overhead wires to eut the current oft' the operator opens the gate 28 in the side walls b by throwing the gate 25 open until it engages the adjacent stud 20. The

current at that end of the attachment may be` short-circuited to the ground. The blocks 7c maybe readily inserted in the ways by throwing the swinging blocks 27 open, the tension of the conducting-wire on said block returning the parts to their normal position and compressing the springs in the cylinders.

By employing three springs y, arranged as described, great power is applied to the shoe andthe blocks forced from the attachment thereby before much of the wire m can be consumed by contact with the ground when broken. Moreover, the life ofthe springs is greatly increased by housing them in cylinders in the manner described, the action of temperature having very little eect on them. As the trolley-wheel passing in contact with the line-wire fm, reaches the block 7c, it contacts with the blocks f f2, and is guided by the edges of the side Walls b of the frame, (see Figs. 4 and 5,) which are pendent below said plates.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a device of the character described, a frame of conducting material provided with a slideway open at an end, in combination with a block fitted to slide in said ways and to which the conducting-wire may be attached, a series of cylinders on said frame, spring-pushed pistons in said cylinders, and a shoe connected to the rods of said pistons, arranged to operate substantially as described.

2. The frame A, in combination with the sliding block 7c, attached to the conducting- Wire, the cylinders rp, provided with springpushed pistons t, and the shoes C, connected with the rods of said pistons and normally in engagement with said block, substantially as described.

3. The frame A and insulated supportingarch h, in combination with the Wire-blocks lo, fitted to slide in said frame, the cylinders p r, and spring-pushed pistons t, and the shoes C, connected with said pistons and adapted to project said blocks from the frame when the tension on said blocks is released, substantially as described.

RUDOLPH FURGANG. Witnesses:

K. DURFEE, O. M. SHAW. 

